Network based implementations allow a variety of network devices or resources to interact with each other. Such devices or resources interact with each other to perform a variety of functions, such as storing information, providing computing services, and executing routing requests. Presently known implementations allow storage of information on devices deployed in the network. To meet the growing demands of network storage, various storage-sharing architectures, such as storage area networks (SANs), have been developed. SANs are dedicated and complex networks that connect one or more hosts or servers to one or more storage devices and network subsystems, allowing transfer of data between them.
Storage sharing architectures, such as SANs, include one or more hosts, such as servers and general-purpose computers, that interact with storage devices or network subsystems over a communication network. The communication network is implemented using network devices, such as network switches, routers. The proper functioning of the SAN is dependent on the proper functioning of the storage and the network devices. These devices are managed by a Central Management Station (CMS). The CMS gathers information related to the storage devices and the network devices and implements device management based on this information. Examples of device information include device load, device availability, new devices, inactive devices, device status, certain control functions, etc.
The CMS obtains device information using a number of proxy agents. The proxy agents are deployed in the network and associated with the one or more of hosts, network and storage devices. The proxy agents facilitate management of the devices by collecting and reporting information about the devices to the CMS. The proxy agents may report the device information periodically or in response to a request from the CMS.
A single proxy agent is responsible for collecting the device information of a particular device. The proxy agents collect and report device information in response to a request from the CMS. At a given time, some of the proxy agents may be handling more requests than other proxy agents and may consequently be overloaded. Further, during operations, new proxy agents may get added to the SAN and some proxy agents may fail. Due to the complex nature of the SAN, it is difficult for the CMS to locate newly added or failed proxy agents, especially where the number of proxy agents is large.